Orange Grove (Wall)/Chapter 36
There I maddened. Life swept through me into fever,
And my soul sprang up astonished—sprang full statured in an hour;
Know you what it is when anguish with apocalyptic Never
To a Pythian height dilates you, and despair sublimes to power?"
It is well human nature is so constituted that one's joy is not banished by another's sorrow, otherwise there would be no enjoyment in this life. To every individual, sooner or later, comes his own trial-hour, and that is sufficient for himself. The world may not know of it, but no matter, the purification goes on, and the inaudible sigh is net unheard in heaven's chancery, whether surrounded by the music and mirth of loving friends, or the thoughtless indifference of those who are incapable of extending the cordial grasp of sympathy.
While the vicissitudes of life were bringing their alternate sunshine and shade to peaceful homes in the lovely vale of the Connecticut, mellowed and sanctified by the transfiguring touch of love in which the human was blended with the divine; on the banks of the Tennessee, passion was contending for the mastery with love, and in the end came off conqueror.
Mrs. Carleton's first impressions of Southern life were not of the most agreeable character, which, however, gradually wore off, until, like other northern ladies, she yielded to their customs, and oven the repugnance at being waited on by slaves was soon overcome, the more readily as the change of climate at that season of the year enervated her physical energies.
As Mr. Carleton was seldom cruel unless roused by some strong passion, and his plantation not an extensive one, his wife was never witness of the worst features of slavery, if by this term we mean the greatest physical suffering. Deeming kindness the most effectual barrier against the crime of running away, when they showed their ingratitude by doing so, he was as merciless as any other. During his residence in the north he had been led to doubt considerably the expediency of slave labor, from the contrast continually presented between northern thrift and southern indolence, but his convictions on this point never touched upon the first grain of principle and were soon forgotten on his return to its borders.
The most of his slaves were inherited from his father, whose death occurred a short time previous to his acquaintance with Miss Blanche. One beautiful brunette he bought soon after his marriage for a waiting maid for his wife, who seemed well enough pleased with the selection, inasmuch as she shared the northern prejudice against color, and such familiar contact with the African race as the Southern mode of life produced, was extremely repulsive to the staid influences of her northern education.
This slave had just enough of the negro blood in her veins to ripple her hair slightly, which was of the glossiest black, and impart to her countenance that doubtful hue, which puzzles the beholder to know whether the flesh and blood he sees before him is an unmixed specimen of the superior race, and thus entitled to the rank and privileges of a human being, or whether, owing to the vices of that superior race, sanctioned by the existing laws of the land, a chattel slave is the highest rank to which this immortal soul can ever aspire. She bore none of the badges of servitude, her carriage and mien resembling more the northern prostitute, than the submissive victim of southern institutions. Lost to all sense of degradation she gloried in her fascinating power over others, for at the same time she held her master in thrall, her mistress was so won over by her proffered kindness and thousand little acts of dissimulation, that the slightest breath of reproach from any of the fellow slaves would not have been tolerated by her, but tills confidence was of short duration.
Mrs. Carleton was not la woman of an investigating mind. Of benevolent impulses, she delighted in relieving cases of suffering that came immediately under her observation, but of their causes and character she knew far less than Rosalind, or even Milly. She was none of the world's deep thinkers. Gaining the affections of all who saw her by her rare charms of manner and conversation, and possessing also a dignity that forbade any unbecoming familiarity with inferiors, at the same time that she mingled respect with condescension, the spirit of caste was not offended, and she was no less a favorite in her new home among all classes than she had been at the north. No one who saw her in the opening bloom of womanhood, gliding about on her errands of mercy, could have imagined that the future had in store for her such a mingled cup of bitterness and strife. None probably had met with less to discipline the character up to the time of her marriage.
Another slave, about the age of Mr. Carleton, and—once a particular favorite of the family, though by no means the counterpart of the brunette, either in personal attractions or profligacy of character, deeply aggravated by a sense of the wrongs she had suffered, could not brook with indifference this new invasion of her own domain, nor the duplicity thus carried on before the eyes of the unsuspecting wife. By nature of a meek, inoffensive disposition, the degradation to which she had been forced roused all the spirit within her, and she assumed a tone of defiance toward all but Mrs. Carleton, in whose presence a habitual melancholy had always pervaded her features, exciting her curiosity to know something of her previous history, which, failing to learn from her husband, she resolved to gain from the slave herself. He divined this, either from his adroitness in reading the expression of the human countenance, or from mere conjecture, and forthwith established a system of surveillance which was rendered complete by introducing this young dave to be the constant companion of her mistress, thus rendering all interviews between her and the elder slave impossible. It was a source of no little discomfiture to the latter to be thus supplanted by the young brunette, not only for the loss of station she had lately enjoyed in being the first in her master's confidence, which she prized in spite of her contempt for him, but also in being deprived of the society of her mistress to whom she was becoming strongly attached.
Mr. Carleton soon found himself between two fires. He was obliged to conciliate the one and studiously avoid giving offence to the other, since only in maintaining his sway over their feelings and fears, could he hope to preserve, undisturbed by jealousy, the reverence and affections of his wife. His attentions to her in the meantime never waned, either in tenderness or devotion, manifested by the many little acts which would promote her comfort or increase her happiness.
Ten years passed by, ten years of agony to the hopeless slave from whose nightly couch arose earnest supplications for deliverance from the house of bondage; ten years of guilt and shame to the hardened master thus heaping upon himself tenfold more of retribution against the day of judgment; ten years of mingled joy and sorrow, hopes and fears, doubts and anxieties to the young wife, who, undisturbed by the gross violation of all the sanctities of humanity in the midst of which she lived, because sanctioned by existing laws and therefore must be endured, was then called to face the fearful chasm into which all that was dearest and best of her life's being had been cast.
Whatever misgivings she might have harbored concerning her husband's character were carefully locked within her own bosom, and he believed her still in ignorance, when, suffering from an attack of brain fever, some delirious expressions escaped her which were sufficient to convince him that she was not so unsuspecting as he had imagined. From that time his manner changed, and before she recovered his neglect became so marked that a return of the fever was feared in consequence of the effect on her nerves.
The elder slave woman, who had been so aggrieved at being separated from her mistress, was now permitted to attend her, and nursed her as tenderly as a mother. When the patient was so far convalescent as to talk without injury, she besought Chrissy, her nurse, to relate her history.
"Not now, honey," she replied, "for it is a long, sad story, and 'pears like it might give you a misery somewhere. There now honey, lie down and rest you and I'll sing the New Jerusalem."
As the shrill notes of her sonorous voice rung out clear and loud upon the evening air, accompanied by that swaying motion of the body which attends their highest state of exaltation, Mrs. Carleton was reminded of an old legend familiar to the days of her childhood, of an elfish looking woman who was said to inhabit a certain retired locality in her native city, where her wild song often resounded through the midnight air, though no one was ever able to trace her home, where she came from or what became of her. Her sleep that night was disturbed by fearful forebodings of the future, until towards morning when a quiet slumber was varied with pleasant dreams of home, a home such as it should be, where in the society of her two children, her time was divided between her attentions to them and some benevolent mission, such as she had once engaged in at the north, bringing the most pleasurable reminiscences of old friends and scenes long since forgotten.
Being in too weak a state for the mind to throw off these unfavorable reactions, it was many days before any improvement was discernible, and Chrissy, whose quick perceptions readily divined the cause of her protracted recovery, was so guarded in all her inquiries concerning the state of her health and topics of conversation generally, always omitting any reference to Mr. Carleton, that her patient was well aware of her comprehension of the true nature of the case. As she lay one day absorbed in reflection the sight of the swarthy face so pitifully fixed upon her filled her with a most painful apprehension, and she again entreated her for a sketch of her history. This time she refused, shaking her head ominously, and heaved a deep sigh as her eyes vacantly rested on a large magnolia tree that stood sentinel at the corner of the lawn. Chrissy was what is denominated among the blacks a "yaller woman," a term sometimes significant of a doubtful kind of esteem, either from a dim sense of its immorality, or an inherent feeling of contempt for these mongrel specimens of races, representing neither one nor the other, and which do often excite a painful sensation as if nature had stepped out of her course, when the yellowish skin is accompanied with eyes and hair of the same hue. She was rather dark, and her eyes were more of a gray, her hair straight and black, so that she would about as readily pass for a dark skinned white woman, as a representative of the African race. Standing on the average level of moral perceptions she would have maintained a virtuous character in an ordinary community, and that she could not do so here, added to her souse of degradation and rendered her indifferent to anything higher.
The brunette was still there, now the presiding mistress of the house, exciting both the hatred and contempt of the other slaves, by her assumed superiority over them, as if a free white woman. Mrs. Carleton had long since dispensed with her attendance, since which time she had maintained a more independent position than before. She followed her business as seamstress, subject to the control of no one, not even of her master, over whom she had obtained such unlimited sway that every desire was granted, and her wardrobe equalled that of her mistress in beauty and richness.
The time came at length when Chrissy volunteered an account of herself. Mrs. Carleton had gained strength rapidly for a few days, having nerved herself to bear her fate with becoming resignation, and resolved that her happiness for the future should be centered in her two children, a son and daughter, both of whom closely resembled their mother. She intended to preserve them as much as possible from the demoralizing influences by which they were surrounded, and instil into their minds northern ideas and the precepts that had formed the basis of her own education. Not yet fully awake to the crippling nature of slave institutions, it had not occurred to her that they could interpose a barrier between the white mother and her child, by laying any restriction upon the widest range of development the highest moral training could promote.
The children were soon removed from her control by the introduction of a governess to whom was assigned the entire supervision of their education. This was done without consulting her at all, and but for the strongest effort of self-control, her nerves would have again been shattered by this insult to her sacred relation of wife and mother. Realizing her helplessness to change the current domestic affairs were taking, she considered it the wisest course to get along with as few words as possible, always having regarded a family outbreak as one of the most painful things to be dreaded.
Soon after this Mr. Carleton started on a business tour which was to take him to New Orleans, and no little surprise was excited when it was discovered that the brunette was also missing, but whether they had left together, or she had taken advantage of the opportunity to secure her own freedom, all of them were equally at a loss to conjecture. One thing was ascertained that she did not leave the city with him, which was hardly to be expected under any supposition, as they would be much more likely to meet on the route. All her jewelry and the most valuable articles of her ward-robe were gone, and what were Chrissy's amazement and dismay, when by some unerring instinct she was led to her only secret drawer containing the only treasure now remaining of her master's former regard, a gold ring, and found it was no longer there! Her rage knew no bounds. She tore her hair, stamped on the bed formerly occupied by the brunette and whatever else remained that she could in any way deface. It was the more aggravating that she had often shook this ring in scorn at her rival for presuming to tell her that he never cared for her, which was also resented by warning her that such would be her fate, when age should in the least rob her of her charms.
Then rushing into Mrs. Carleton's room, who turned deadly pale at this sudden outbreak of passion, she vehemently exclaimed, "Yes, I will tell you all, no matter if he is your husband, he'll soon enough be of no account to you. He robbed me of every thing, and then brought this vile wench here to insult and plunder me, but bless me honey, what am I doing? I forgot that you was his wife."
Here she stopped abruptly, wringing her hands desperately, and struck with terror at the thought of her boldness and its consequences, when she saw her mistress sink down in a chair as if ready to swoon. By a strong effort Mrs. Carleton soon rallied, and, anxious to hear what this strange woman had to say, urged her to go on as calmly as she could. Chrissy softened down considerably at the sight of her agitation, and in a quiet, submissive tone proceeded.
"I beg your pardon, missus, but there are times when I forget that I am a despicable slave, and think only of myself as an outraged woman, and then such a misery as I have here (laying her hand on her bosom), I feel as if I my heart was bleedin' at its roots. And then when I come to think of the blessed Jesus, and how he suffered and how they put a crown of thorns on his head, and how mighty pretty he bore it all and only asked to have 'em forgiven, I'se so happy to think he was willin' to come down here and die for us and then be nailed on to the cross on Cavalry, I'se willin' to suffer any thing. But you see I forgets him when the troubles heaps upon me," throwing her arms passionately across her breast, and violently rocking to and fro, as a fresh sense of her wrongs swept over her. Whether it is owing to the uncultivated state of their religious convictions, and the general neglect of moral training, or the familiarity with the Deity to which their large imagination has prompted them, in the absence of earthly friends to hear the story of their suffering; there is in the African race a strange mixture of religious enthusiasm and earthly passion in the same breath. Possessing an uncommon share of the devotional clement, they have an inherent sense of the mercy and goodness of God, and an unfaltering faith in his promises, that belongs to no other race. Apparently through outside forces the most propitious soil for its development, Atheism finds no foothold there. Visions of the New Jerusalem and the Heavenly Land have led them through the fiery furnace of outraged affection and excruciating tortures, until they reached those shores where master and slave know no other distinction than the unerring scales of justice award to them. Steadfast in their belief in immortality, all the sufferings of this life are swallowed up in glorious anticipations of its realities.
Chrissy arose and relighted her pipe, a powerful sedative in reconciling them to their fate, according to their own confession; and after smoking for a few moments, gave her brief narrative, only relating its most striking points.
"I was raised in old Virginny, but I won't give the first particulars of my life, which you will be soon enough to find out, but honey, I wish you'd smoke a pipe, it would make you feel so much better, it does me so much good when I have a trouble. I was about sixteen when my old master brought us here with the rest of his things, about sixty head of us in all, mostly field-hands, but I had a sister a little older, a house servant, who was married to my master's coachman, and they had one child. A slave trader came one day and wanted to buy her, offerin' a right smart price, but he didn't want the child. My master would not consent to separate 'em at first for she was a pretty creetur and so was the child, but he wanted the money, and the bargain was made. To do the thing up as quiet as possible, the child was sent off to a neighboring plantation on some pretence, when she was told to get ready as quick as she could. Such screeches as she made frightened me and I tried to beg her off. We had both been treated well, and as I was very near of kin I felt sure he would listen to me. All the answer I got was that he would sell me too if I didn't shut up. So with a crack of the driver's whip she was hurried into the cart and I never see her again. Her husband took on mighty bad that night when he come to be alone, and when the child came home, and asked so mournfully for his mother every few minutes, I tell you missus, I felt mighty bad too. I tried to comfort 'em, and told 'em how the Lord Jesus knew it all and how we must go to him with all our troubles, and how he liked little children and took 'em in his arms, and they seemed to feel a heap better. My young master was always very kind to me, and when David got over it a little bit, and wanted to marry me, he let us have a little cottage close by where he used to come very often, and that was the trouble, missus, he come too often. He made me presents, that ring she carried off, (throwing down her pipe and stamping her foot with great vehemence on the floor) ha, ha, I hope she's run off. He never thought of my runnin' off, but freedom's sweeter 'n any thing else. My husband was sold before one year was out, torn away from his two children, for I had a little baby then, and I never shall forget how he catched it up and kissed it that mornin' 'afore I was up, and said 'good bye Chrissy, I've got to leave you,' and was hurried off without giving me a chance to say a word. Then I took to his oldest child more'n ever. He looked just like his father, and 'peared as if he was almost speakin' to me when I heard him talk, but before I had time to get over it he was sold too. My young master was still good to me and tried to comfort me, saying, my baby never should be sold, for he wouldn't permit it, and the blessed Jesus took it to himself soon after. Though I was all alone then, it was nothin' like its bein' sold, for I knew where it was and it wouldn't suffer no more. Well, one night after my young master had gone away, pretty much as he has now I was sittin', thinkin' how I'd like to be free, when a sperit seemed to say to me, run. And I says to myself, where shall I run to? and it kept sayin', run. Then I got to thinkin' about ray child, how it would be born a slave and might be sold, and I did run that very night, and got away without bein' overtaken. I had money that my master gave me and good clothes so I could pass for a white woman with a veil over my face. I lived at the north ten years, but I never could get over the feelin' generally that I should be took sometime, and it grew upon me. I won't stop to tell you all I suffered from the want of a home and the fear of bein' discovered, but it seemed so good to be free. To prevent the child's bein' took if I was I didn't let folks know she was mine when I went into the city to get work, and when they got me at last I never said a word, but went right off for fear of making a stir that would bring it all out. She was as white as any child and looked some like her father. If I could only know that she was took care of, it wouldn't hurt me so to think of her. When they got me back my young master, that I'd all along kind o' clung to, brought in an old black nigger, that was the ugliest one then on the plantation, and always the one that done the whippin's, and told me I'd got to marry him. If 't had been my old master, nothin' would 'a been too bad for him to do, but that it should 'ave been him, and all because I wanted to have his child free, and he knew how I felt about it. Well, that wan't all I suffered, but it was the worst for me to bear. He went north soon after, and I found out afterwards that he'd been there before, and that was the way he got track of me. He didn't come back again to stay till the winter before he brought you here, and his father was dead then. He never took much notice of me, but I follered him like a ghost. I hadn't any fear of him then, and was so afraid he'd sell my children that every time a stranger was round I listened. Well, one night I listened," then turning to Mrs. Carleton, "be strong honey, and cast all your trouble on the Lord Jesus, that's the way I do, and when I feels very wicked he comes and quiets me and tells me about his crown of thorns, and how he suffered that I might be good, and then I feel's willin' to bear it all, but it will come over me again when I forgets him."
Chrissy here related the substance of the conversation narrated in a previous chapter, and then straightening herself up with an air of triumph, continued, "I kept it all to myself and didn't even let the birds know what I'd heerd, 'cause you know they'll carry things strangely sometimes. When you first came he treated me with his old kindness, and I felt as if I was willin' to forgive him for all he'd done to me; then he brought that young thing here and told me I wan't needed any more and he was goin' to hire me out. All my blood was in a boil then, and I spoke right out and told him what I'd overheard, but didn't let him know I'd overheard it. Says I 'Massa, you know we was children together, and you treated me like a sister, as I was, and when helpless in your power, I wanted to save—your child from bein' the miserable slave that I am, I went off, you got me back and forced me to live with that brute to raise you slaves for the market, and just as sure as you take me out of this house I'll tell her, or somebody that it will get to her, or if you sell either of my children.' The oldest one was sold to help pay the debts after his father died, and I hadn't forgot it. He turned as white as a sheet and I thought he almost trembled, but whether with anger or fear I could not tell. I knew I was havin' my revenge, and I was as firm as a stone. I had no more fear of him than as if he had been my slave, and he knew I had him in my power, unless he took my life. I always knew he was afraid I should tell you about his child, but if he'd treated me well I shouldn't, for I loved him enough never to have run away if it hadn't been for fear of the child bein' sold, and I knew there was no confidence to be put in his word more than any body else, and that it wouldn't be any safer than if it had been David's."
Mrs. Carleton listened to this recital apparently unmoved, but a storm of agitation was raging in her bosom, and before it was finished her resolution was formed which, ere two days passed away, resulted in another exit from the house of Mr. Carleton. A fugitive wife and her two children took a train of cars for the north, and when her husband returned at the end of a week, he found himself minus the brunette, the wife and children, for whom he really had a very strong affection. Chrissy met him in her usual fearless manner secretly exulting in his mortifying predicament, and nothing daunted. The brunette he was obliged to give up as lost property. Nothing would subject him to the humiliation of raising one inquiry respecting her, and he could easily perceive in the forced gravity of his slaves that they had a ludicrous perception of matters and things as they then stood. Unusually obsequious in all their endeavors to please, many a smile he could detect suddenly vanishing into a most comic, serious expression when he turned quickly towards them.
"Halloa Sambo, how are you?" said he to the coachman, who was shaking his sides as a broad grin displayed his shining ivory to the best advantage, unmindful of his master's presence. "Tol'able thank 'ee sir, tol'able, and hopes massa's right well too," replied he, stepping significantly on the toe of the ostler which was suffering from a corn, causing him to scream, which gave rise to a roar of laughter among the whole gang who had gathered around to welcome their master.
There was a general tumbling and rolling on the grass by the younger members of the group when Mr. Carleton returned to the house.
"Wonder of massa 'll put de bloodhounds on de trail to-night," said one.
"Wonder wheder he'll try to catch missus or de nigger fust," said another, which caused a fresh outburst of laughter, accompanied with the remark.
"Guess if she knew you called her a nigger, she'd be arter ye wid a pitchfork."
"Don't tink massa feel like jumpin' Jim Crow to-night," said a nimble young pure-blooded scion of Ethiop, as he turned somerset and landed on his feet before the words had fairly escaped his lips. Little did they think while indulging in so much merriment at their master's expense what a cloud was just ready to burst over their heads. The business that had called him to New Orleans was of vital importance to his pecuniary relations, and the result had proved very unsatisfactory. The estate was deeply embarrassed at the time of his father's death, and though a number of the slaves were sold to clear some of the debts, it was by no means in a prosperous condition. His own conduct had contributed not a little to involve it still farther, a conviction of which rendered his reflections that night of a very unpleasant character, aside from the chagrin of being so unceremoniously deserted.
The hundreds of dollars he had spent on the brunette, and other similar transactions, recurred to his mind with great force, and, heartless though it seemed, his recent calculations on the exorbitant price she would bring, if matters came to the worst, were so unexpectedly baffled, he paced the room under the most galling sensations of mingled regret, humiliation, disappointment and despair. He saw no way to escape bankruptcy, and in order to avoid the difficulties that encompassed him like a hedge on every side, he resolved to flee the state. Having no doubt of his wife's destination he intended to follow her.
Fortunately, owing to her father's providential disposition of his property, besides the large portion she brought her husband he bequeathed to her the eld family mansion which could not be alienated during her lifetime, and afterwards descended to her children if she had any. To this place she repaired as her future home, wisely resolving to make the utmost endeavors to leave the past behind her, and, once more surrounded by the friends of her young days, seek to retrieve this fatal step by devoting her life to the relief of the misery existing around her. Little did, she know the secret inroads her trials and sufferings had produced upon her physical constitution, or the mental exhaustion which was fast prostrating her whole system. These causes alone were sufficient to change the whole atmosphere of her northern home, and when in addition came the consciousness of the waning affections of those who had gathered around her so adoringly in the happy days of her youth, which even ten years of separation may introduce, that frail bark stranded, and she sunk down on her couch never expecting to rise again.
Heroically she struggled with the painfully contending emotions that were fast sapping the vital currents of her life, for the sake of the two beautiful children who seemed to have inherited all the graces and virtues of their mother, and none of their father's vices. At this time the parting words of Mr. Livingston, which fell so ominously on her ears on the day of her marriage, came freshly to mind, and banishing every distrusting thought of his sincerity as unworthy a place in her mind, she resolved at the earliest practicable moment to seek his sympathy and counsel, hoping to find in him a friend and protector for her children, if, as she feared, her own life should not be spared. He lived at some distance from her and before sho succeeded in this arrangement, what were her surprise, indignation and terror at being apprised of Mr. Carleton's arrival at her own door! Strangely enough she had not thought of his following her, although having her fears at times that he would take some measure to rob her of her children. Instead of being paralysed with fear, all the slumbering forces of her soul were instantly roused into action. Instead of the gentle and patient being, who had silently and submissively borne every indignity, he saw before him all the impassioned energy of woman's nature when, once provoked to resist her wrongs.
It is but justice to him to say that for a time he was deeply humbled under a heavy feeling of remorse, and his wife's reproaches were borne without making any attempt to reply to them. But this excitement was too much for that delicate frame, already tottering under the weight of intolerable wrongs, and she was again prostrated by another attack of brain fever, when her life was despaired of. He would have been very attentive had not the sight of him made her rave ten-fold worse, and the only way she could be kept quiet at all was to place her children beside her, to whom in her delirium her mind was constantly reverting. If they were not present when she opened her eyes she started up with all the energy of despair to go in search of them. However she rallied from this attack and again gave hopes of recovery.
In the meantime Mr. Carleton recovered from his momentary twinge of conscience, and seeing no prospect of his own comfortable residence there unless she were out of the way, began to devise measures to rid himself of her. With the aid of a physician bearing the same reputation as himself, and one of his most intimate friends, she was committed for safe keeping, on the plea of insanity, to a lunatic asylum where, to the disgrace of all civilization be it said, any man under the sanction of the same law which entrusted to his sovereign care and protection the tender and helpless being he had chosen for his wife, might consign her with no other evidence than his own biassed testimony and that of his interested friends, whenever, to serve any base purpose of his own, he wished to rid himself of her presence. There none of her friends might be allowed to hold any intercourse with her, and inexorable as fate, the law closed every avenue of defence through which an impartial investigation of facts might produce a reaction in her favor, and she was doomed to suffer day after day, and year after year the most cruel indignities, the most refined torture that a perversion of the family institution into an engine of domestic tyranny could produce.
The holiest institution that God has ordained, one which immediately and remotely effects all the interests of society, it is impossible to trifle with or enter lightly into without incurring the most serious results to ourselves and to the community.
Viewing it in this light and perusing the annals of legislation, no wonder that the soul is sickened by such harrowing details of social life, both public and private, in the pages of history. As domestic virtue and happiness lie at the foundation of all other virtues and enjoyments, home is the sacred spot that should be the most carefully guarded and protected by all the provisions it is possible for legislation to throw around it, and how has it been?
The whole history of jurisprudence does not furnish another such a paradox as the assumption that a usurpation of her rights is the highest blessing and the greatest protection that can be accorded to woman by the supreme majesty of the law. Peruse the decisions of eminent lawgivers, and note the universal approbation with which she has been consigned to the most abject despotism under the plea of protection.
A learned judge in New York once said, "That we often see acts of tyranny and cruelty exercised by the husband towards the person of the wife, of which the law takes no cognizance, and yet, no man of wisdom and reflection can doubt the propriety of the rule which gives to the husband the control and custody of the wife." "It is the price which female wants and weakness must pay for their supply and protection." Magnanimous man!
The whole force of public opinion on this subject is founded on a series of contradictions, absurdities and falsehoods, so palpable, that when driven to the strong hold of defence, it cannot show the least vestige of a principle to justify it, and resorts to that most effeminate of all devices, flattery.
It begins by quoting Scripture from Genesis to St. Paul to show that woman through her sinfulness and weakness is the vassal of man, and needs his beneficent control and protection to guide her in the way she should go, and ends by conceding what woman never claimed and St. Paul never asserted, that she is an angel, and must not be permitted to sully her spotless purity, and lesson her divine influence by coming in contact with that demoralizing element which, under the semblance of manhood, defiles every department of public life. And yet it never occurs to our wise legislators that she will be any the less a delicate and refined woman for living in the most intimate relation of life with the most degraded specimen of humanity. All their gallant sympathy and protection explodes, when the angel they worship so far condescends to come down to the plane of mortals as to become a wife.
Admitting that it does not come within the scope of the law to regulate the marriage institution, which is the province of a higher tribunal, the conscience and the affections, it is the true province of legislation to recognize the equal rights of both sexes in entering into the relation, thus removing a great source of selfish motives in the thirst for gain and love of power.
When Mrs. Carleton became aware of her incarceration, having been lured from home under the pretence of a journey for her health, her excitement brought on another attack of fever when it seemed a certainty that her earthly troubles would soon be at an end. But again she rallied, and as soon as consciousness was in any degree restored, thoughts of her children came to nerve her once more to combat with the inroads of disease.
During her convalescence she was entrusted chiefly to the care of a young girl, who was regarded as too stupid to be of any available service to the inmates in any project they might devise to effect their deliverance, being one of those sensitive spirits that could expand only in a congenial atmosphere, and was employed to go of errands, m which capacity she was always so trusty that no very strict watch was kept of her whereabouts so that quite an unlimited freedom was hers. Between her and Mrs. Carleton a reciprocal feeling of attachment sprung up, and many a tedious hour was whiled away in an interchange of affection's offices which were as highly appreciated by one as the other. In this way the days dragged their weary length along, and month after month passed by with no more hope for the future, during which Mrs. Carleton, struggling with her fate as bravely as possible, tried to be calm and quietly await the ordering of events if not so fortunate as to devise any method of escape.
But oh! what a wretched existence was she dragging out! With what yearning tenderness did her mother's soul long to embrace her darlings, who might, perhaps, even now be languishing on beds of pain, moaning for her tender care. But for him who had been the guilty cause of all this woe, she felt only loathing and disgust.
How to escape from her living tomb was her first thought; where to go, and how to get possession of her children was the next; one as hopelessly impossible as the other. In the phrenzy of despair she sometimes gave way to freaks of passion that might impress strangers who knew nothing of the circumstances with the conviction of her insanity. Wishing to turn this fact to his own advantage Mr. Carleton took with him one day a friend of his to visit her, an unscrupulous lawyer. The sight of her husband and his cruel indifference to her agony at thus being separated from her children stung her to madness. Her eyes flashed, and in no very tender tones she called God to witness that vengeance would one day be visited on his head. The lawyer shook his head with that complacent acquiescence in the wishes of his client so agreeable to his pocket, if not to his conscience.
The thought of appealing to Mr. Livingston again flashed across her mind, but how was a question. Every avenue of communication with her friends was cut off except by letter, and even that must be submitted to the inspection of those who were ignorant of her misfortunes and in sympathy with her husband.
While pondering upon this subject one day, her young attendant, as if divining her thoughts, said with an abruptness and decision that surprised Mrs. Carleton, "If you want to send a letter to any body I will put it in the Post Office."
Looking at her with doubt and astonishment she replied, "They would not allow you to do that."
The little wise-acre with the most innocent simplicity remarked with a knowing smile, "I go just where I please."
Mrs. Carleton hesitated a moment about the propriety of sending her on an errand so utterly at variance with the established rules, but as it involved no deception, the girl neither being forbidden to go, nor likely to be questioned on her return, she quickly decided in the affirmative.
She wrote a letter to Mr. Livingston, reminding him of his proffered friendship, and imploring him to come to her assistance, or obtain her release in some way. She told him frankly how she had suffered and what insults and outrages had been heaped upon her, facts of which he needed no farther proof than his own observation could vouch for. She gave him directions about her address, naming the day when she would send for it at the office. In her desperation she assumed that something must be done in which no alternative was presented.
It was very trying to him to be obliged to crush the faintest vestige of a hope of procuring her re lease, or of gaining access to her children. He told her of all the exertions that had been made, and the deep interest excited in her behalf, closing with the proffer of his services in any way that could be of advantage, and assuring her of his undiminished regard and deepest sympathy.
It was such a consolation to receive a friendly message and sympathizing words from any one, that she almost overlooked the substance of the letter saying nothing could be done, remembering only the offer of assistance to which she clung as a certain omen that something remained, and to discover what this might be, knowing it to be dependent on herself, she bent all the energies of her mind, but with little success.
"What, shall I give it up so," she said, "drag my life out here when my children have such a claim upon me, because he whom the world recognizes as my husband has unlimited power and may violate the obligation resting as strongly upon him as me, because he is a man, and I a woman? No! By all these powers God has given me as a wife and mother I will get away from here to proclaim to the world the iniquity of its laws and the baseness of mankind, though my life be the forfeit."
She scanned the distance from her window to the ground, her room being fortunately in the second story, and formed her determination.
"If any human being is willing to assist me," she thought, "I should detest myself if I could not devise some way to raise myself above this degradation. I would jump from this window if only sure of escape afterwards. Let me think. If I should write to him to be here with his carriage and the fleetest horses he could procure, at such time of day as the house is most quiet, would there not be a possibility of getting beyond the reach of pursuit before they would get started?" It was a desperate venture, but she was desperate. Closely watched it required the greatest precaution to manage the affair without exciting suspicion that something was on foot, as well as in writing her letters. If Mr. Livingston should consent to her proposal which might well be doubted, not knowing what rash plan she had formed, of which she had not dared to give him the least intimation because it was rash, how could she be sure of any time when no one would be on the premises to stand in the way of her flight. Her anxiety during that short period was equalled only by her previous suffering. If this plan failed no other avenue of escape presented itself to her burning brain. Through weary years, perhaps, her miserable existence might be protracted, though it seemed scarcely possible. That rich auburn hair was already streaked with gray, and that fair, smooth skin so withered and wrinkled with the agony of torturing days and sleepless nights that one would scarcely recognize the wreck of what was once so beautiful and lovely. Thoughts of her children made her cling to life with about equal desperation, and for them she wrestled with many a temptation to crave for herself the blessed boon of lying down in her last sleep.
Her experience was not without its salutary lessons. While at the south her own troubles had somewhat blinded her to the sufferings of others notwithstanding her generous nature, and the enormities of the slave system never impressed her with such vividness as now, when she could realize the glorious blessing of liberty, and the utter heartlessness of any system that separates parent and child.
"How can such wickedness be tolerated," said she to herself, and then quickly recurring to her own case she marvelled all the more, "how is it that I, here in the land of my birth, surrounded by friends who have known me from childhood up, and once the favorite of every circle, am left to pine here in this living tomb? Why don't they come and batter down these doors? How can they go about their business with such cruel indifference when they know what a fellow-being is suffering, and a woman too? Know? How can they know when they never experienced it? Down with all your pretended tenderness for woman's feelings! It is all hypocrisy.
"Mothers, sitting by your own happy firesides, how can you be so quiet when others are suffering so much, and denied the privilege of sitting by their firesides? Yet have I not done it? We never feel another's woe until it becomes our own. Is it possible if I should get away from this place I should ever sit quietly down forgetting the misery around me? Get away from here! What if I never should! Oh God, art thou just?"
As she thought of the doubtful chances of her escape after the letter was sent, and nothing remained to be done but to await the result, her shattered nerves gave rise to the most torturing apprehensions concerning her future safety, and the troubles might bring upon others in pursuing this course. A deadly hate towards Mr. Livingston had always existed in the breast of Mr. Carleton, and she did not know what injury his anger might prompt him to commit if he should be the instrumentality of effecting her deliverance.
The dangerous feat from the chamber window was another source of the most agonizing solicitude lest her courage should fail if the carriage did come. Every night her restless slumber was disturbed with visions of perilous adventure and hair breadth escapes. But all this anxiety was swallowed up in the overwhelming suspense lest the letter should not meet a favorable reception. Perhaps she would never hear any more from it. At this suggestion fear and weakness fled, and no attempt, promising the least hope of success, was too hazardous for her to make.
There was one who could not sit quiet by her own fireside when another was suffering so intensely. This was Mrs. Livingston. All her mother's soul was stirred, and she would have shrunk from nothing which promised the least ray of hope, let the risk of danger be what it might. Timidity was not one of her faults.
On the receipt of this letter from Mrs. Carleton, Mr. Livingston naturally hesitated about the wisdom of acting according to her suggestion. That flight was her intention could not be doubted, although in what manner remained to be seen.
The extreme hazard of the attempt presented itself in every form to his better judgment, and discretion prompted him to second no step that might result in the most serious consequences to herself as well as others. His wife was not to be so summarily disposed of. Her temperament was of that ardent, impulsive character which inspires courage and energy into an enterprise that requires perseverance rather than forethought, though not always the one to depend on in an emergency, or to solve the way out of a difficulty. Excess of feeling is not balanced by sufficient caution to avoid perplexities a little discretion might easily foresee. Warm-hearted and generous, justice does not always go before generosity, nor prudence act with sufficient firmness and moderation. Mrs. Livingston, however, united with her bounding impulse sufficient consideration and firmness to guide it. She never acted rashly or blindly. Her decision was promptly rendered that it was best to go with the carriage and horses, and trust to Mrs. Carleton for the rest. No alternative was presented to her mind.
"Do you think," said she, "that if I were in her place, separated from my children, I should consider any proffers of friendship or expressions of sympathy as coming from sincere motives which would not prompt so much of an effort as that for me? I would move heaven and earth to the rescue if possible. I will go, and it seems to me more advisable for Walter to go with me than for you, Ernest."
Mr. Livingston yielded, and Walter raised ho objection to the arrangement. He had exhausted his fund of legal knowledge in the vain hope of detecting some loop-hole through which the innocent might be rescued and the guilty meet his deserts; but though in the liberal construction of the law every other prisoner might be entitled to an impartial hearing, woman, in her married state, was such a nonentity that this privilege could not be accorded to her, and he felt the force and justice of Rosalind's appeal.
They started on the appointed day, which was very warm and sultry, and fortunately encountered no one on their approach to the scene of adventure. The avenue being a winding one, the carriage would not come in sight until very near the entrance to the house, and by walking the horses so little noise was made that no attention was attracted to the spot from the inmates.
The disagreeable sensations agitating Mrs. Carleton as the hour drew near cannot easily be imagined. Unable to obtain any sleep the night before, her nervous system was stretched to its utmost tension, and the frightful leap from the window tormented her with the most fearful apprehensions lest courage should fail at last. As her chamber fronted the main avenue leading to the building, no carriage could escape her observation, but it was possible for some other to come; and it might be unsafe to rely on her indistinct vision, now so impaired by sickness and suffering, to guide her accurately. Many such fears arose, all of which fled when the hand pointed to the hour and no carriage appeared. Not a person was stirring outside the building and every thing was propitious as could be for the adventure. No shrinking now from the hazardous leap—she was not afraid to jump on the soft greensward below, or perform any other similar feat, with the prospect of escape afterwards. Gould it be possible he would disappoint her? How every moment swelled into an hour!
*****
There comes the carriage and no mistaking the driver, Walter Claremont, whose frank, manly face and large brown eyes it was easy to recognize. A moment more and she was on the ground. The leap was effected with less of harm than she expected, laming her considerably, but not enough to disable her from rising. She reached the carriage by the time it stopped and Walter lifted her in. Exhausted nature then gave way and she fell into a swoon. Mrs. Claremont's forethought fortunately provided for this emergency in supplying Rosalind with cordials, which die applied as well as the circumstances would allow—if not sufficient to restore consciousness, the little strength remaining was thereby enabled to sustain her until the end of the journey. Not a moment was to be lost and fleetly sped the horses. That the hour should have been chosen when no one was stirring on the grounds, seemed almost an interposition of providential guidance as such an opportunity was seldom presented. The carriage was seen by some of the inmates but Mrs. Carleton was not, and making no stop, it was supposed motives of curiosity brought the travelers there to see the building! As no one had occasion to go to her room until tea time two or three hours after, she was many miles beyond their reach when her absence was discovered by the functionaries in charge.
It so happened that the attendants were unusually engaged that afternoon in preparing for a little entertainment to be held in the evening for the diversion of such of the inmates as were considered in a proper state to participate in it, but Mrs. Carleton knew nothing of it when she wrote her letter, being afterwards informed by her young attendant, whom she encouraged to assist in the preparations thus ensuring her absence; and as she was seldom visited by any one else, she might feel quite sure of being left alone.